The Stitching Project The Stitching Project is operated by Kayef Stitching Project LLP and operates as a social enterprise dedicated to making fine textile products... based in rural India, with a style that is a little bit ethnic and a lot contemporary. The Stitching Project ethically produces quality hand worked home wares, garments, and craft supplies, special orders for private customers and a hand quilting service.
The Stitching Project Team Our work is produced by a team of people, Our products are labelled with the name of those who have contributed to the work from the weaving workshop, block printer, hand stitcher to the machinist. We can track and label all who contributed to your work if you choose. We are produce our products ethically. We have been accredited with Craftmark for our Hand stitch/ Quilt making
The Stitching Project Workshop Our mission statement reads like this • ethically create as much work for ourselves and as many hands as we can • emphasis on the work of the hand- handloom fabrics, hand block print, hand stitch • source materials as locally as possible • make choices that are as environmentally friendly as possible- unbleached handloom fabric, re-cycled silks saris where suitable to the design. • where the quality of modern sewing techniques are necessary use the best quality threads, zips etc and our modern sewing workshop. • promote fair pay for well produced work and educate to help achieve this • develop work informed by traditional techniques with a contemporary twist.
We believe when cloth is labelled hand weave it should be woven by hand. The Indian government is looking at new laws where powerloom weavers will be able to label their work HANDWEAVE. Rest assured when we say hand weave- it woven by hand not powerloom
Sustainability We believe that it's important to be as transparent as possible about ethical, sustainable and eco friendly practices. We're not perfect, and there are still elements of our business that we would like to make even more eco-friendly, but below is a list of practices we currently employ to minimise our impact on the earth: • We believe in fair pay for quality work, we largely work with rural women who are home based and believe the opportunity for them to earn a fair income will positively impact on their lives and the health and education of their children • We promote and use sustainable & fair trade base cloths, where possible. For most of our handloom fabrics we have a direct relationship with the weaver families who produce them. • We design for longevity, not conforming to short term, seasonal trends. • We use water based, solvent free inks. Hand block printing uses little water in clean-up. • We are very careful to use or sell on all offcuts from the stitching workshop.
Terms and Conditions •
Rates are valid for minimum 100 pieces per colour per style. 15% extra will be charged for quantities under 100.
•
EXCEPTION- items with Craftmark label minimum 50 items per style.
•
50% advance must be paid upon receipt of Proforma Invoice, before production. Remaining 50% must be paid before shipment is dispatched.
•
All orders require 90 day lead time.
•
All rates are from our workshop in Pushkar, Rajasthan. All prices are inclusive of basic packaging. Items are put in a plastic wrap bag and then put into cartons. Please specify any special packaging instructions and requests.
•
Except for shipping documents, all courier charges must be paid by the buyer.
•
Other arrangements may be possible by mutual consent
The Stitching Project Sampling Policy •We are happy to send you samples of our products and make custom samples for you. •Samples we have in stock will be charged retail value. –If an order meeting our minimum requirements is placed for that particular item, sampling charges for that item will be refunded when the order is placed. •Custom samples made by the sampling unit will be charged a per hour per man rate plus the cost of the materials. –Please provide detailed spec sheets. •All courier charges are to the buyer’s account
The Stitching Project Contact us By email: hello@the-stitching-project.com By phone: Fiona Wright +91 998 203 2755 Kanhaya Lal +91 964 965 1856
The Stitching Project is owned and operated by: Kayef Stitching Project LLP 5 Kishanpura Rd, Chawandia Village, Pushkar, 305022, Rajasthan, India.
Khadi-hand
spun, hand weave fabric.
Hiya, we work with a number of weavers to get the cloth we use for clothing and quilt production....so can access many weights. I think we might be khadi junkies as we are always on the lookout for new weights and weaves...it is subtle but there is great difference between regions. We have made direct contact with each weaver we buy from, we advance a deposit against our order to allow them to buy the cotton to spin and weave without borrowing from a loan shark and we pay promptly upon receiving and checking our order. The cloth we sell on we total all costs involved in receiving it and/or dyeing it etc and add 20% for us before we on sell at wholesale quantities and rates. If you are interested in this email us at hello@the-stitching-project.com If you would like a sample swatch pack email us, cost is US$10 and postage. We can arrange payment via PayPal. It contains a range of weights and textures of khadi we have regular access to. Any of the khadi we have access to we can blockprint in our studio or have dyed with natural indigo, and other traditional dyes.
Khadi What is it? - Hand spun, hand made cloth, generally cotton made in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Its history as old as cloth itself. Roman’s apparently loved Bengal muslin all those years ago, a true luxury item. - It became a political expression. Gandhi supported khadi as part of a Make in India campaign to empower Indians during the time of trying to win India’s freedom from Colonial Powers - Khadi was a way for the Indian farmer to earn some cash in the quite times of rural life. Gandhi began promoting the spinning of khadi for rural self-employment and self-reliance (instead of using cloth manufactured industrially in Britain) in the 1920s in India, thus making khadi an integral part and an icon of the Swadeshi movement [ To peacefully get England to quit India, which finally happened 70 years ago] - There is a lot of talk about khadi now- it is fashionable in the upper end of the Fashion Industry BUT the not often recognised truth is, it is often very poorly paid, vulnerable people that produce it. - Use khadi because it is beautiful, it does create employment, it is totally handmade – and has soul - BUT very, very careful to know who wove it and how they are paid.
Heavy Handloom Khadi cotton Code- HH Rustic – slubs and occasional broken threads 100 % cotton Hand spun weft, machine warp, hand weave Produced by Gaffer of Rajasthan We use it in Jackets and quilts most often
Light Handloom Khadi cotton Rustic – slubs and occasional broken threads 100 % cotton Hand spun weft and warp, hand weave Produced by Gaffer of Rajasthan We use it in tops, pants and quilts
Bihar Dhoti Light weight, perfect for summer tops and dresses- it breathes. Traditional weaver for farmers dhoti or sarong
Bengal khadi • Our friends produce the finest muslins up to quite robust KK20, we favour the ones with a little texture and distinct hand made quality.
Textured Handloom Khadi cotton Code- TH - Rustic 100 % cotton Hand spun weft, warp Produced by Gaffer of Rajasthan * Popular
with the creative crowd – sari rip yarn good for cross stitch or rug hook effects
Heavy Handloom Khadi cotton- Indigo Rustic – slubs and occasional broken threads 100 % cotton Hand spun weft, machine warp, hand weave Produced by Gaffer of Rajasthan Indigo by Rambabu-ji of Bagru
*Pre-packed- Very
popular on Etsy and when I do textile events in Australia
Light Handloom Khadi cotton- Indigo Rustic – slubs and occasional broken threads 100 % cotton Hand spun weft, machine warp Produced by Gaffer of Rajasthan
Indigo by Sudhir of Bagru
Packs 4 Fat Quarters khadi block print Prints and colours to your choice
Packs for Patchwork Inspired by boro, slow stitch and our “waste not want not” attitude.
Musru- Handloom silk Code- M Fine quality Satin weave - surface silk Underneath cotton Hand weave- 80 cm wide Or Powerloom 112cm wide Produced by Sunil of Gujurat * Beautiful
to stitch into
Kota Doriya Traditional open net weave of Kota, Rajasthan • Thread machine spun Available as handloom from women’s co-op or powerloom from Irfam’s family
Tussah Nepssilk cotton Powerloom silk cotton- very popular. Woven by Pradeep’s family in Bhagalpur, Bihar Handloom is available from Bengal
Indigo We work with a family unit in Bagru- Mr Sudhir. Natural indigo is used to dye our cloth • Traditionally busy prints are favoured, if dying plain cloth lighter shades can tend to be streaky, dark indigo is quite even in shade. • Natural indigo tends to rub off a little in first few uses and then settles down • Natural indigo does fade [rather beautifully] over time.
Mud Resist Indigo Just examples we have tried.
Kashish Grey
Myrobalan Red or Cream Depending on the treatment Myrobalan and extract from tree roots will give a buttery cream or a brick red.
Natural iron black print
Blockprint • We use solvent free, water based inks. • Any colour of the rainbow can be mixed • We have an extensive block library- ask for access hello@the-stitching-project.com or you can commission blocks to your design
Recycled Silk Saris We search through mountains of pre-loved saris, • check they are silk • wash them • Press them • Rip them into shape • Make yearn, pack fat quarters packs or make our garments
Sari Rip Yarn Code SY Washed second hand saris- ripped across width of sari then joined into continuous thread by machine stitch. This is the work of our Machine Ladies.- it is then washed again to give a nice soft edge. Approx 1.2 cm wide Sold in 100 gm balls. 100gm is approximately 66m. Some variance due to various weights of silk.
Recycled silk sari dress lengths Code –PD 215 2 layers re-cycled sari silk + lots and lots of hand stitch = shawl or a dress Raw edged- originally intended as a dress length they would make a sumptuous wrap. size approx 250 x 90 cm [100 x 36"] Each piece fairly made and totally unique in a small way -Irregularities in print, weave, embroidery and colour are inherent characteristics and part of the charm of hand crafted and/or re-cycled textiles Labeled with name stitcher
Hand Stitched panels Various sizes
Re-cycled Sari Fat quarters • Washed, pressed • Colour co-ordinated • Bundled together and tied in gold ribbon
• Very popular at textile events
Thread Boxes We only use Coats No 8 in our workshop. And we are happy to share with our friends Pre-packed selections in • Rainbow • Warm • Cool • Neutral